Cheese-maker&#39;s milk-proving apparatus.



-No. 673,l43. Patented Apr. 30, I90l. F. SETTL- OHEESE I IAKERS MILKPRHVING APPARATUS.

'-(Applieation med Oct. 14 1897.) (No Model.)

l RQ w: mums mks 9n. PHOfO-LIT'HQ. WASHINGTON, 0. c4

UNTTen STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

FREDERICK SETTE, OF IRONRID GE, WISCONSIN.

CHEESE-MAKERS MILK-PROVING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 673,143, dated April 30,1901.

Application filed October 14, 1897. Serial No. 655,145. (No model.)

To (1% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK SETTE, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Ironridge, in the county of Dodge and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cheese-Makers Milk-Proving Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof. 7

In the manufacture of cheese it is customary at factories to mix milkobtained from various dairies, and if any of the milk be adulterated ortainted the cheese will be below standard quantity or quality, itfrequently happening that an entire batch of cheese is low grade becausesome of the milk employed in its manufacture was not right in the matterof purity or sweetness through no fault of the cheese-maker. It is alsopossible that cheese will be of less than expected quantity or qualitynotwithstanding the fact that all the milk employed in its productionmay have stood well-known tests as to purity, sweetness, andconstituents.

In order to determine quantity and quality of cheese that may beproduced from milk of any dairy, it is necessary to subject a separatequantity of this milk to the whole process of cheese-making; and theobject of my invention is to provide an apparatus by which separateequal measures of milk from several dairies may be put through thecheese-making process at the same time under exactly the same conditionsof temperature and agi tation, whereby positive determination and faircomparison may be had as to quantity and quality of the severalproducts, the cheesemaker being thus enabled to discover who isfurnishing him with poor milk.

The milk-proving apparatus in accordance with my invention'comprises asingle heatingtank of any suitable construction, a plurality ofuniform-capacity receptacles in the tank, an agitator in eachreceptacle, and suitable gearing for simultaneous rotation of all theagitators at a uniform rate of speed, as will be hereinafter moreparticularly set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings andsubsequently claimed.

Figure l of the drawings represents a partlysectional View of mymilk-proving apparatus and is indicated by line 1 1 in the succeeding'to the same degree of temperature.

figure. Fig. 2 of said drawings represents a plan view of the aforesaidapparatus, partly broken away.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents a tank having a coverprovided with a plurality of circular apertures. Cylindricalmilk-receptacles B of uniform capacity are set in the tank through itstop apertures, the diameter of these apertures and receptacles beingapproximately equal, as a matter of preference, especially when freesteam is utilized as a heating medium for the contents of saidreceptacles.

It is to be understood that each receptacle B 'has very small capacityin proportion to that of an ordinary cheese-vat, and it has beendemonstrated in practice that receptacles proportioned for the treatmentof fifty pounds of milk,as a maximum sample, in each will besatisfactory for the purpose of carrying out the object of my invention.

A valve-controlled steam-pipe C is shown extended into the tank A andprovided with a series of jets, so as to diffuse free steam in said tankabout the receptacles, each of the latter and its contents being thussubjected The tank is shown provided with supports D, and a detachableframe E is shown at rest on the supports. In practice sheave-supportedflexible runners may be utilized to facilitate handling of the frame. Aseries of spindles B have rotation in the frame, and all of the spindlesare driven at the same time at the same rate of speed by suitablegearing. As herein shown, each spindle may be provided with asprocket-Wheel G, engaging a link belt H, common to all thesprocket-wheels, and a bevel gear-wheel I is shown on one of thespindles in mesh with a similar wheel J on a drive-shaft K, supported inbearings L upon the aforesaid frame. Each spindle F and a rack Fdepending therefrom constitute an agitator for the engagement of one ofthe receptacles B above specified.

In practice equal measures of milk from different dairies are put in theuniform-capacity receptacles, the latter being arbitrarilydesignatedbynumbers orotherwise. Forinstance, milk from one dairy is putin receptacle No. 1, milk from another dairy in receptacle No. 2, and soon, whereby the milk of each dairy is isolated from that of others inthe proving apparatus. The several measures of milk are now subjected tothe same degree of heat in the single tank for a time and then properlycurdled, after which the curds are cut and the agitators placed in saidreceptacles, allot these agitators being then rotated for the samelength of time at the same rate of speed, said curds being kept at thesame temperature in the several receptacles, Upon su bsequent removal ofthe agitators from the receptacles the contents of the latter arestrained to get rid of the whey and the cheese product from eachreceptacle is placed in a separate mold and cured, the several molds ortheir contents being arbitrarily distinguished in any suitable manner orby any suitable means,

of milk treated in the proving apparatus.

spend with the number of the receptacles and corresponding agitators itis desired to eml ploy. Hence the proving apparatus in accordance withmy invention may be made in sizes according to therequire'ments ofvarious cheese-makers.

From the foregoing it will be understood that I provide a simple,economical, and effective means whereby a cheese-maker may at any timeprove the quantity and quality of cheese obtainable from milk ofdifferent dairies, thus enabling him to protect himself againstimposition or carelessness on the part of dairymen.

The proving apparatus herein set forth is portable, and therefore it maybe readily transferred from one cheese-factory to another more or lessdistant when a milk-proving test is desirable, it being understood thatonly a limited sample amountof cheese can be made in any one of thereceptacles constituting parts of said apparatus and that equal measuresof milk from different dairies must be separately subjected to thecheese-making process at the same time under exactly the same conditionsin order to obtain a fair comparison as to quantityand quality of theproducts, and as it has not heretofore been practical to accomplish thisresult in a cheesefactory the merit of my aforesaid apparatus as anadjunct to such a factory is apparent, even though it may not benecessary or desirable to make a test similar to that described exceptat rare intervals.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

A milk-proving apparatus for cheese-makers, the same comprising acovered tank, a valve-controlled steam-pipe extended into the tank andprovided with a series of jets, a plu- The dimensions of theheating-tank correrality of uniform-capacity receptacles set in the tankthrough top apertures of the same, a removable agitator arranged to haverotation in each receptacle, and gearing operative in conjunction withthe several agitators to drive each simultaneous with all the others ata uniform rate of speed; whereby equal measures of milk from variousdairies may be isolated from each other and subjected to a cheese-makingprocess at the same time under the same conditions of high temperatureand agitation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, atHartford, in

the county of Washington and State of Wis consin, in the presence of twoWitnesses.

FREDERICK SETTE.

. Witnesses:

W. R. AMIDON, DWIGHT JACKSON.

